A Guide To Finding Air-cleaning Service

If you think your home is making you sick, finding the right company to correct air-quality problems is like playing Russian roulette.

Where do you turn first? Whom can you trust? And will paying a lot of money make your home healthier?

Anyone who has the money to buy the equipment can hang out his shingle and set up an air-duct cleaning service. Even those who advertise more extensive and expensive work don't have to pass any state certification. And no single, universally accepted standard is used to test homes before and after any air quality work is done.

Realizing their industry was riddled with booby traps, members of the Indoor Air Quality Association, a 200-member trade group in Longwood, decided it was time to publish its own standard. The standard sets parameters for a variety of factors that influence air quality - from temperature and humidity to total volatile organic compounds and formaldehyde. It is based on published studies and guidelines used by state and federal government agencies.

''These are guidelines for indoor air-quality control consultants so that when a home is completed, you know if it meets certain minimum standards,'' said Charles Walker, vice president of Climate Control Services in Delray Beach. Walker worked on the association's prototype house.

To the layman, this sounds like the first step toward getting the industry on track. But some experts from the Florida Department of Health said these standards can be fraught with problems.

''If they are used as guidelines, they are better than nothing,'' said David Krause, indoor air-programs coordinator for the department's Bureau of Environmental Toxicology in Tallahassee.

But numbers, he said, don't always tell the whole story. For example, the standards recommend 1,000 parts per million or less for carbon dioxide. Let's say 15 people were in a building and carbon dioxide levels registered 500 to 600 parts per million.

''You could look at those numbers and say it's great because they fall below the standard, but it means the building has an awfully high ventilation rate,'' Krause said. ''It means their ventilation system probably cannot adequately remove moisture from the building. That leads to mold growth and you get into microbial problems.''

Microbial growth is measured as bioaerosols, and the standard suggests a range of 150 to 500 colony-forming units per cubic meter.

Mike Lowdermilk, environmental specialist with the Palm Beach County Health Department's Division of Environmental Health and Engineering, said these pollen and fungi are difficult to measure. Viable spores may be dormant and dead spores still can cause problems.

''This is somewhat of a gray area,'' Lowdermilk said. ''The numbers may not mean anything. If you find just one bad species inside, it may be too much.''

So what do the experts suggest people do if they are concerned about air quality?

If you think you have a problem, Krause suggested contacting the county health department environmental specialists. They will interview the occupants, inspect for evidence of pollutants and conduct some tests to measure temperature, humidity and contaminant levels.

The health department specialists cannot force you to correct a problem, and they can do only certain tests. More sophisticated tests need to be done by private companies. Before hiring one of these companies, check how long they have been in business and see if they have had complaints filed against them with the Better Business Bureau and the county consumer protection agencies.

Krause said homeowners also need to be informed about what comes into the home. Read labels on chemicals. Demand that pest control companies provide information on what pesticides they are using. Ask for emissions data on paints, caulks and sealants.

''The lesson here is source prevention and dealing with building failures immediately,'' Krause said. ''If there is a plumbing leak in the wall, there is a lot of hidden damage that could lead to microbial and other problems later on.''

Walker said the association never intended these parameters to be taken as gospel. They are merely guidelines, he said, not mandates.

''Think of it like going to a physician,'' he said. ''He may give you a battery of 50 tests. You may come out within the guidelines, but he will never say you are completely healthy. No one would say that. There could always be something wrong.''